Toy Soldiers
by Hime-koi
Summary: We all fall down. Family/Friendship fic. (Discontinued)
1. step by step

**Disclaimer: **Katekyo Hitman Reborn! belongs to Amano Akira. This is a work of _fan_fiction.

**Warning: **This contains child abuse, prostitution, language, drug addiction, etc. This is rated M for a reason.

**Inspired By: **Like Toy Soldiers by Eminem (focusing on the chorus mostly)

**TOY SOLDIERS**

_We all fall down._

_._

_._

_._

step by step

The year was 1870, somewhere around the middle of the Victorian Era, the reign of England's Queen Victoria. During this time, many problems were solved, but many also ignited. Such problems as prostitution were solved but many such as child abuse or child labor, and complicated diseases/injuries were set aflame.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was a child of good fortune, having nothing to do with any of these problems. However, no one was perfect. No one would ever have a completely peaceful life without strife.

Tsuna, as most called him, struggled with depression. This was brought on by teasing by other children his age, and problems with his parents. His father was never home, a different excuse was told to his mother by him every time. Tsuna did not want to be under the impression that his father was perhaps committing the sin of adultery, but he didn't know what to think.

He'd heard from kids at school that there were ways with dealing with depression. Just one consumption of the stuff and you'd be at peace.

Anti-depressants they called them. Little white pills filled with a substance that could supposedly take all of your troubles away. It seemed like a good idea at the time. One pill and peace forever?

Tsuna tried it.

Addiction set in almost immediately.

* * *

Gokudera Hayato was always a smart child.

The Victorian Era fascinated him, and he was pleased to live out his years in it. Of course, he knew almost nothing about Queen Victoria, but the outfits, people, and just the plain English culture was enough for him to believe her a great person. The traditional viewing of everything was simply breathtaking.  
Hayato was born to a talented young woman, a piano player, and a rich, intelligent young man. He was born to be a genius. With his luck and brains, he believed that he could get anything he wanted, anyone he wanted...

But, no matter how smart he was, he would never win the love of his father. Perhaps, if his mother had not perished, his father would be a little nicer to him, give him more breaks, feed him more.

This was not the case.

In fact, it seemed as the days passed, his father got angrier and angrier. With his father's daily anger, it seemed like the problems that tore them apart increased and Hayato's life was filled with many days in which he almost starved to death. The only thing keeping him alive was the food he saved from previous meals and sure will power.

Hayato was the epitome of a child labor worker, with no way out.

* * *

The sport of baseball was supposedly introduced in the 18th century. It's popularity escalated in the 19th century, exactly about 30 years before the start of the Victorian Era. England was the first country to introduce the sport, with hints of French help. Eventually, the Americans picked up the sport and American children embraced it, as well as the rest of the world.

Yamamoto Takeshi was one of the many children who enjoyed the sport.

Since he was really little, he loved holding the baseball and bat in his hands. The smooth feeling of it comforted him, and he took out most of his emotions using baseball. At first, he played with neighborhood children, getting together with them on weekends. At first, they accepted him into their games, called him one of the best.

At first.

When Takeshi turned 9 years old, a violent fight with a neighborhood kid (one he tried to avoid), rendered his ability to lift his right arm completely useless. His shoulder had literally been torn at the ligaments, the nerve endings had slowly fizzled and died eventually. There was no way he could ever play any sport again, especially baseball. His shoulder and arm were too weak to support the swing.

* * *

During the Victorian Era, children started out small jobs such as chimney sweeping when they were the age of 5. This was the start of the child labor age, as some people called it. Many children did not live past 25 years old later in life, because of the terrible conditions they were to work in. Many children contracted diseases or received injuries.

Lambo was always a playful child.

His parents were successful pieces in the government. Therefore when Lambo reached the age of 5, he was not required to start the job of chimney sweeping. He stayed home most days and played games with the servants. His parents were almost never home, as they were always busy tending to other devices. Lambo was lonely most of the time.

The accident happened maybe a week after he had turned 5.

It took his parents' lives.

Immediately after, the government took custody of Lambo. He was made to work in the chimneys with many other kids his age. Most of them had several injuries over their bodies, and this plagued Lambo to no end.

The brooms used were tall things, many times would a child hit themselves with it accidentally, trying to sweep ashes. The broom towered over Lambo and usually he was very careful to not hit any part of his body unlike his fellow children. However, Lambo had never been a lucky child, and suffered greatly due to this.

One day, Lambo was accidentally hit in the upper portion of his neck. The impact was strong enough to knock him to his feet. As he gathered up his strength to get up, the pain was too much for him. He lay painfully awake, paralyzed on the floor, yet fully aware that he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life.

* * *

Boxing, as well as baseball, was another early sport. Boxing, however, originated in 688, before the coming of Jesus Christ. It's country of origin was Greece, used mostly in the Olympics, but quickly developed in other countries. The origination of modern boxing started in England, also around the Victorian Era.

Sasagawa Ryohei was known for boxing.

He enjoyed the sport more than others did, trying his best in every competition, no matter how serious it was. After all, boxing was a serious sport, one of the most likely to get hurt in, since it was directly a combat sport. Ryohei wasn't scared of the statistics though. He believed that he would be able to win every battle, as long as he willed it to happen.

The only battle he couldn't win was the battle that involved his younger sister, Kyoko. Kyoko was diagnosed with an unknown disease from the moment she was born.

This is what pushed Ryohei to want to become a doctor. To save Kyoko. To finally do something in his sister's life that meant something, besides boxing all day and then visiting her when he was done. He would finally be able to do something good for mankind, also. Instead of destruction, he wanted to build something up. Life.

No matter how much he tried though, Kyoko's condition worsened every day.

* * *

There were many traditional schools in the Victorian Era. The poor schools had one room on the inside, an illusion of elegance on the outside. The rich schools were elegant in the inside and the out, with spiraling decorations and magnificent castle walls of many colors. No illusions were needed to cause the presence of elegance in these schools.

Hibari Kyouya ruled the richest school of all time.

His father was a feared man in the world, a man of high importance in the government, and held a great political spot. He was easily one of the most richest men in the country. Kyouya was not far from his position. Kyouya was feared by every student attending the school and had power over everyone there, including the instructors. He ruled with his tonfas at his side. He was powerful, just like his father.

But, no matter how powerful he was, that didn't stop his father from being stronger.

Kyouya tried to please his father in every way.

It was never enough.

Kyouya came to school with a new injury almost every day, caused by his father.

This is why he must be strong.

To one day defeat this man of power that he calls _father_.

* * *

Prostitution was a serious problem by the time the Victorian Era arrived. By this time, there were men, women, and sadly, children who were hired as prostitutes, just for the ownership of money. Just to get by in the world. It was most likely to find child prostitutes around than adult ones, especially since children were worked the most during this time.

Twins were the most popular.

Rokudou Mukuro and Dokurou Nagi, or Chrome as clients were supposed to call her, were twins. They took on different last names at first in an attempt to separate from each other. Perhaps if they separated and met up eventually, they'd be able to leave this horrible life. Of course, they were found within days and Chrome was forced to take on her original last name once again, Rokudou.

No matter the client, Mukuro protected Chrome throughout the filthy act, trying (in possible vain) to keep her fragile virginity intact. For years, he had succeeded in doing this and Chrome had mostly no contact with clients unless directly asked for something. She was still pure in some way and kept a distance when her older brother was protecting her, even though it pained her greatly to do so.

Their parents had dropped them into this meaningless, empty life.

And there was no way to escape it.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Yes, this will be a very morbid story. It depends on the course of the story if the ending will be happy or not. Most likely, the eight will come together and act as a family to rid themselves of their former lives. Some of them will have more problems than the others.

There won't be any romance in this fanfic, just mostly Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Family, etc. If there's romance in the end, it (once again) depends on the course of the story. I would prefer het pairings (Tsuna/Kyoko, for example) for this one, but I have nothing against writing yaoi and yuri as long as the original story line is followed.

Note: This is (if you haven't guessed) set in the Victorian Era in England. I chose the year 1870 because its pretty much the middle of the era. (The actual middle year was 1869. I got a good laugh out of that, like the obsessed little fangirl I am. -shot- I didn't choose it because people would have took it the same way I did. Which wasn't too good.)

The instances mentioned here are actual things that were going on around the Victorian Era. It is reported that during the Era, there was an influx of many things such as prostitution, forced labor, drug addiction, etc. All reports involved mostly children, as rights for children had low expectations of coming to pass.

So, as a recap -

Sawada Tsunayoshi - struggles with depression, becomes addicted to anti-depressants

Gokudera Hayato - subject to a life of harsh child labor and starvation

Yamamoto Takeshi - forced to give up life dream due to serious injury

Lambo - paralyzed from the neck down

Sasagawa Ryohei - gave up boxing to become doctor, sister's condition worsening gradually

Hibari Kyouya - abused by father, struggles to become stronger

Rokudou Mukuro - subject to a life of prostitution, tries to protect his sister's purity

Dokurou Chrome/Nagi - subject to a life of prostitution, struggles with progressing depression

* * *

step by step

_Step by step, our problems may increase or decrease._


	2. heart to heart

**Disclaimer: **Katekyo Hitman Reborn! belongs to Amano Akira. This is a work of _fan_fiction.

**Warning: **This contains child abuse, prostitution, language, drug addiction, etc. This is rated M for a reason!

**Inspired By: **Like Toy Soldiers by Eminem (focusing on the chorus mostly)

**TOY SOLDIERS**

_We all fall down._

.

.

.

heart to heart

_There is no way to change fate._

_However, if it is fate's will, then we will always come together._

* * *

Sawada Tsunayoshi met Gokudera Hayato accidentally.

Tsuna enjoyed visiting the park near his house. It was one of his few pleasures in the world, one of his only escapes. It was a beautiful, wide open space with different planted flowers of every kind. He visited the park every day before he went home from school, spending many hours there just basking in the beauty of it. Today, he wanted to spend an especially long time at the park.

He hadn't really had any problems at school besides the regular teasing, but his father hadn't been home in at least a week. It worried his mother sick when his father spent time away from home like this. Tsuna had inklings on where his father was spending his precious time, but he didn't want to voice his suspicions to his mother, in fear of hurting her.

Sawada Nana had always been a fragile person, although she was also one of the strongest out of the three of them. At hard times, such as times like this, she was the first one to break the silence, to put on a brave face for everyone else, the first to move on from whatever problem the Sawada family was facing. Tsuna admired his mother for her defiance.

While Nana was a defiant person, his father, Sawada Iemitsu, was as challenging as his mother. However, Iemitsu was much more easy-going, the type to brush off problems when it caused for his serious, full attention. He never took anything seriously and played around a lot, but at times when Tsuna really needed him, he had to admit that he sometimes came through.

Sometimes.

On the topic of Tsuna's constant teasing and depression, Iemitsu pushed it off as Tsuna's imagination. After all, who could ever hate a Sawada kid? The Sawada family was well-known. No one would ever even try to bully a member of it.

Or so he thought.

There wasn't a day that passed by that Tsuna wasn't bullied. Every day, he would enter the school grounds, to find _them _waiting for him. Most of the kids who bullied him were his own classmates, and a few upperclassmen that probably had nothing better to do. Tsuna didn't really recognize any of the upperclassmen except for one kid.

Hibari Kyouya.

There wasn't a living soul that attended the school that didn't know his name. He basically ruled the school with an iron fist, and 'bit to death' anyone in his way. Tsuna was absolutely terrified of him, although he was the one who bullied him the least, ironically. In fact, Tsuna had at one time, figured him to have been being bullied himself, because of the constant bruises he attempted to hide. However, this suspicion was immediately crushed by the fact that no one would even _try_ to mess with him.

As Tsuna mused on this topic, he walked into a new clearing in the park. It was a part he usually didn't walk into, but considering that he had extra time today, he might as well.

He stopped abruptly as his eyes fell upon a silver-haired boy sitting on a bench in the middle of the clearing. He was covered in soot and grime. A tall broom was propped up next to him.

Tsuna thought about turning around and heading back the way he came, but by the time he even finished having the thought, the boy looked up.

"Che," he said. "What the hell do you want, kid?"

"Uh," Tsuna stammered. "U-uh, w-well, I was just taking a walk! I just happened to come across you here!"

The boy glared at him, making Tsuna momentarily shrink back from his gaze. Although he received treatment like this daily at school, he wasn't really prepared for this as the boy had taken him off guard. The other male made him feel minuscule, a feeling that he knew all too well and suffered greatly day after day.

"Hmm," the boy stated. "You're one of them rich kids, aren't you?"

"Uh, I well, uh," was all Tsuna got out.

The boy smirked in amusement. "Am I really _that _intimidating?"

To this, Tsuna said nothing, although, he greatly felt the need to tell him that he was.

The boy stood up to stand in front of Tsuna. He was actually a few inches taller than him, which made him feel even more inadequate in his presence. He turned to grab his broom and then extended one hand out to Tsuna. Tsuna stared at it in surprise before looking back up to the boy's face, this time instead of a glare, he had something akin to a smile grazing his face.

"Name's Gokudera Hayato," he said.

Tsuna stared at him in surprise. This may have been the first time someone who had at first scared him had willingly introduced themselves to him. He took Hayato's hand firmly and shook it.

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, but call me Tsuna," he replied.

"Sawada?" Hayato asked, his brows furrowed in confusion. "Aren't you the successor of Sawada Iemitsu? The tenth successor of the Sawada family wealth? I _knew _you were a rich kid!"

He grabbed Tsuna's other hand in his own.

"Instead of addressing you by your name, may I call you Tenth?" he asked, his eyes basically sparkling. "I remember back when my mom was alive, the wife of Sawada Iemitsu would constantly come to check on her, and help her out. When my dad was in a hard period involving his business, the Sawada family helped him out,"

"Ah, well," Tsuna said. It was like any friend he made was always made because of his name. "I would prefer if yo-,"

"Nonsense, Tenth!" Hayato confirmed. "A person such as yourself deserves the best name!"

Hayato looked as if he was about to praise Tsuna more, but then something caught his eye across the street. Tsuna turned his head and caught the eye of a man standing on the other side, staring right at them. He could tell the man was angry by the expression on his face. He felt Hayato tighten his grip on his fingers for a little, and then he let go.

"I must be going now, Tenth," he said quietly.

And with that, he walked off, leaving Tsuna standing there in confusion.

_"Wait...Hayato's family name was Gokudera," _Tsuna thought as he stood there. _"And that man, he seemed so familiar. Was that...Hayato's father?"_

Tsuna stared for several more minutes into the direction that Hayato had disappeared before he reluctantly turned around and headed into the direction of his own house.

* * *

It was a solemn day when Ryohei met Takeshi.

Ryohei was volunteering at the hospital once again, trying to become closer and closer to becoming a doctor. Every day, Kyoko's condition got worse and the current doctors still weren't any where near to finding a cure for a disease that strange. Ryohei was becoming more and more agitated and scared for his little sister's life.

The hospital had its good things and its bad ones. One of the bad things were the children. The floor Ryohei volunteered for included young children that constantly reminded him of Kyoko. The kid he visited today was named Lambo.

Lambo was a good-natured black haired child that was paralyzed from the neck down. Despite this, he still kept a brave smile on and tried to be in good spirits daily. Ryohei admired him for this as he could not be in good spirits for Kyoko most of the time when discussing her disease. He wondered how the kid kept it up.

Today, Lambo didn't talk much. At first, Ryohei had wondered what was wrong with him. That is, until he discussed the children of the hospital with the other volunteers. They talked mostly about the new ones, but a couple of them mentioned Lambo. Apparently, the government, who still had custody of him, had no idea what to do with him. It'd been a couple of years since he'd been admitted to the hospital because of his condition, after all. They couldn't very well keep him there for the rest of his life.

As Ryohei pondered this, he entered the waiting room. The whole room itself was completely empty except for one black-haired boy who held a single medicine bottle in his hand. It was empty so Ryohei figured he had came to get his medicine refilled. But, what would he need that for? He looked absolutely healthy.

"Hello," Ryohei said, as he approached the boy.

The black haired boy looked up in surprise. "Uh, hi!"

Ryohei looked down to the baseball and bat that was sitting next to the boy. He grinned. Other sports always reminded him of boxing. Even though he had left he behind to go to the medical field, he still loved seeing references of it.

"Do you play baseball?" he asked the boy. "That's pretty extreme!"

The boy's expression darkened and then he laughed lowly and forcibly. "No, I don't. My friend that's getting a checkup left it here with me to watch. I used to play it, but I don't anymore..."

Ryohei, oblivious to the boy's expression asked, "Why? Did something happen?"

"No, nothing really," he replied, sadly. "Just an unfortunate accident,"

Finally, Ryohei seemed to catch on to the tension in the air, so he decided to quickly change the subject. It seemed something had happened in the past that the black haired kid really didn't want to talk about.

"Sorry for asking," he apologized. "By the way, name's Sasagawa Ryohei! I'm pleased to make your _extreme _acquaintance!"

The boy seemed to lighten up a bit. He shook Ryohei's hand and grinned. "I'm Yamamoto Takeshi, nice to meet you,"

.

.

"So, Ryohei, do you play any sports?" Takeshi asked.

It was an hour before the hospital closed and Ryohei had met with Takeshi again as he was leaving out of the hospital. They decided to chat a little more as Takeshi's friend went to retrieve his prescription for his medicine.

It was going well until Takeshi asked that certain question.

"Oh, well," Ryohei replied darkly. "I used to, but it was another of those...um, unfortunate accidents like you mentioned,"

Noticing Ryohei's expression, Takeshi said a quick sorry and fell silent. It seemed as if both of them had played a sport they loved but differences had separated them from it. Ryohei sensed that they if anything, they shared a common difference because of the circumstances. Of all the ways to find a friend, it had to be in a place like this under this situation.

When Takeshi's friend returned, they said an awkward goodbye to each other, with forced smiles on both of their faces. Ryohei watched as they disappeared into the night with a frown.

At some point, he had noticed Takeshi's arm was slightly..._unusual_.

* * *

At around midnight, Hibari Kyouya stumbled out of his house, more bruises adorning his face, and unfortunately, other parts of his body. With difficulty, he managed to get out through the door and narrowly avoid the sharp piece of glass that was thrown at him afterwards. It grazed the side of his arm and he winced, panicking, and hoping against hope that _he _stayed inside.

He could already sense the smile on his father's face as he stuck his head out of the front door, not noticing his son so close to the doorway, and belted out loudly, "And don't come back here, you fucking brat! It's not as if I actually _cared _if you stayed anyway! You're so stupid, just stay out there and get killed then! I hope you die!"

And with that, he slammed the door. Kyouya let out a semi-relieved sigh and then began to stalk his way down the sidewalk. It wasn't the first time his father had thrown him out for the night, and it would certainly not be the last. This time, however, he wasn't up to walking around for the night, his wounds were bleeding profusely and all he wanted was a warm bed at the moment.

He closed his eyes once only to open them to the sight of a small, purple-haired girl that adorned a white eye patch over one of her eyes, namely the right one. He staggered back a step in surprise and then regained his calm composure to stare the girl in the face. Immediately he reached for his tonfas, but they weren't there.

Oh yeah, his father took them.

"What do you want?" Kyouya spit out, brushing off his panic of not having protection as nonchalance. "Do you need something?"

The girl stared at him and blinked her visible eye. Kyouya blinked back, wondering if she didn't hear him or if she just didn't understand English. She looked as if she belonged to another nationality, perhaps a country in Asia or near it?

"Aren't you...," she broke off slowly. "Aren't _you _the one who wants something?"

He furrowed his brows in distaste. What did she mean? "What are you talking about?"

She seemed to step back in surprise at his confusion and then shook her head, smiling. She extended a hand out to him and replied with her name, "I'm Dokurou Chrome. Sorry for the misunderstanding. And you are?"

"Hibari Kyouya," Kyouya answered simply, not bothering to shake the offered hand.

She slowly lowered her hand awkwardly but still keep that smile on her face. "It's nice to meet you, Hibari! But," At this, she broke off and noticed the wounds on his body, still bleeding. "Oh my gosh! You're bleeding all over! Well, you can come back to our flat, and I'll help bandage you up, if you'd like,"

The 'our' did not go unnoticed by Kyouya. "_Our?_"

Chrome turned around and replied happily, "My older brother and I!"

.

.

Kyouya was positively sure by the time he'd spent an hour at Chrome's flat that he had conflicting feelings about the Rokudou twins. He fairly liked Chrome, as she was quiet most of the time, content with just quietly humming to herself with a small smile. However, her older brother, Rokudou Mukuro, was absolutely annoying and talked too much.

Kyouya had lost count how many times he'd imagined the death of Rokudou Mukuro.

"So, Kyou," the infuriating male asked. "How'd you get those bruises anyway?"

"I told you not to call me that," Kyouya replied, irritated. "And that is none of your business,"

Kyouya expected Mukuro to be the type to pry, to try to get Kyouya to tell him about the bruises, even after he had refused to tell him. All of his expectations flew out of the window when Mukuro sat back with a calm, unsmiling face and faced Kyouya with this, "Well, we all have our secrets, don't we? You keep yours, and I'll keep mine,"

Even after Kyouya left their apartment the next morning, he still wasn't sure what the older Rokudou sibling meant by that.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I think the Cloud + Mist meeting was the shortest, but I had almost no ideas for their meeting, so bear with me on that. My favorite part to write was the Rain + Sun meeting, it was fun to write for me. The Sky + Storm meeting was incredibly hard, but I bared with it and finally finished writing it. Gokudera is a hard character for me to write, I have no idea why.

Remember, no romance in this. This is not a fluffy fic and I don't think it'll have a happy ending. Depends on how the fanfic progresses whether or not I'll make a happy ending. I'm not sure if I even want one. But, we'll have to see.

Please remember to review! I need all the feedback I can get, you guys help me to become a better writer.

* * *

heart to heart

_Are our hearts bounded together, or can they simply be torn apart?_


End file.
